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The consumer economy is the toughest it has been for decades, said Bloomsbury, with curtailed orders in retailers like Waterstone's.
In its interim management statement for the period from 1st March to date, Bloomsbury said the change in ownership in Waterstone's was a symptom of "challenging time" for consumer books on the high street. It said: "Waterstones has strictly rationed orders during recent months. In the US, the Borders bankruptcy and subsequent sale looms over the industry and in Australia it is a similar story with the REDgroup, which owns Angus & Robertson. These factors mean that trade revenues, although boosted by growing e-book sales in the UK and US, remain soft."
It highlighted adult sales as particularly weak, particularly in Germany, which had success with Eat, Pray, Love last year. However, it identified AC Grayling's The Good Book as a success on both sides of the Atlantic and highlighted Chelsea Handler's My Horizontal Life, which has been on the New York Times bestseller list for 138 straight weeks. Last week the publisher won its third Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction in five years with Frank Dikötter's Mao's Great Famine. Bloomsbury said JK Rowling's announcement of Pottermore.com has led to a resurgence of excitement in the Harry Potter books, boosting children's backlist sales.
However, the publisher concluded: "Difficult prevailing retail conditions mean we remain cautious about current trading."